


Blacklisted

by fruitypatootie1255



Category: Great Pretender (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Near Death Experiences, laurent is remorseful but he doesnt show it, new con, slight romantic tension?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29562318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruitypatootie1255/pseuds/fruitypatootie1255
Summary: Team Confidence takes on a new target: Bryana Chigurh, an up and coming actress that miraculously gets every role she could ever ask for. What the public doesn't know is that she blackmails and pays off her peers and superiors to get her roles. Laurent Thierry and his gang plan on disassembling her schemes, but the boys end up cornered.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Blacklisted

**Author's Note:**

> I made this for my boyfriend as his birthday gift!!! So!!! Jet I hope you enjoy it :)) Happy birthday

Makoto Edamura had stated many times before that he was going to quit the conning business, for good this time, and each and every time that statement came out of his mouth he was proven wrong by the same person every time; each and every time he said that familiar phrase, he was ripped from his cozy home and cozy little job, which apparently wasn’t real in the first place and was somehow tied into a very specific person’s long list of fake businesses, and placed into the ridiculously large, wicked, and crafty hands of his superior, Laurent Thierry. While technically yes, that man was indeed his superior, Edamura refused to think of him as such. In fact, he preferred to think of him as an enemy, or maybe if he was feeling particularly cruel, he thought of him as a lost puppy that clung on to him and dragged him away from his responsibilities. You know, those things every functioning adult had to learn to live with! Not Thierry though, that man had never had a single responsibility in the entire time Edamura had known him! Sure, he may have thought up the cons that earned them millions of dollars, but they were admittedly flimsy and would fall apart easily if even one thing went wrong, meaning everyone constantly had to improvise, and they were more often than not caught by the person they were scamming.

Sometimes Makoto wondered if Laurent would purposefully get them nearly caught for adrenaline, or maybe to spite the person and tell them “Hah! Look at you, fool, we scammed you out of millions and you didn’t even know!”

And once again, despite how many times he told himself and others he would be done with the conning business forever, he found himself in yet another con that he had never intended to join. Did he even say yes to joining said con? If he was being entirely honest with himself, he did not even remember being told who he was conning and what they were taking from that person. All he knew was they were rich, famous, and evil.The latest briefing was told by Laurent like this:

“Our target this time is Bryana Chigurh, an A-list actress that is adored by fans across the nation as the lead role and common love interest in many hit movies that have come out in the recent years!” Then, of course, he listed the movies that she had been in and their synopses, as if that was helpful. Makoto was fairly sure he just wanted to expose himself as the type to indulge in romance movies, as if they made him any more alluring than he already was. It’s hard to get anywhere from the bottom. Either way, if he was the type to watch those kinds of movies, many awkward moments would be explained. “Her dirty secret is that she has been blackmailing casting directors and her fellow actors and actresses to secure her role in movies, and to be suggested for upcoming roles! Now, it sure would be a shame if all of that money she earned from her stolen roles had gone missing, and if all of that blackmail material had suddenly… disappeared.” There was a hint of coyness in the blond’s voice in that moment, but it also had something darker in it, like he had finally been starting his revenge on someone who had wronged him in the past. The only way Edamura could imagine Laurent knowing this Bryana Chigurh girl was if they were past lovers, which was not something he ever wanted to imagine.

So there it was, all explained. They were conning a well known actress who turned out to be a piece of trash who blackmailed the people around her to sneak her way into Hollywood. Was Makoto surprised? Not at all, the type of person Bryana was was who they always conned: people who cheated the system, took advantage of others with the money they had, and used sneaky ways to get more money. All Team Confidence was doing was robbing evil of their power. Their money. The only thing Makoto was confused about was why they were going after this specific woman, but also how Laurent learned that she was blackmailing people. All the times before, the target was someone who had wronged a member of Team Confidence in the past, or it was an easy way to uncover the members’ trauma and get them to “grow and become a better person” as said by Laurent himself. So what, Edamura wondered, had Bryana Chigurh done to any of the members of the team? He almost wanted to ask, but he knew he would either get shrugged off, get laughed at for even thinking he was able to ask that question, or get yelled at by… a specific person.

And then Team Confidence was told of their grand plan, which was never really all that grand and which was always left with holes that the members of the team had to fill, otherwise their target would figure out that they were being conned. Their plan went as so: Laurent, Abby, and Cynthia (the most charismatic and the best, most natural actors) will all pose as up and coming actors, and use Ms. Chigurh as an idol, getting closer to her as they work and train with her. Makoto will be left to focus on the behind the scenes stuff while the others are out connecting with Chigurh, such as setting up social media accounts and websites for the “actors”. The three will get close enough with Ms. Chigurh and her security to be able to slip in and out of the penthouse she lived in easily, and even bring some actor friends over whenever they wished in order to use her old scripts to practice. When their “actor friends” (Makoto, as they needed as many pockets as possible) joined them in the penthouse, they will find where the blackmail is, take it, and then find her money stashes and do the same. Throughout the bonding experience, the three will also be convincing Ms. Chigurh to donate some money to an “actor’s guild”. 

This plan is what brought Makoto, Laurent, Abby, and Cynthia to Ms. Chigurh’s penthouse, and caused them to walk through each and every one of the far too many rooms, and look for what they came for. Abby and Cynthia were on blackmail duty, as they were not only sneakier and more responsible with delicate information, but they were also responsible for getaway duty if anything were to go wrong. Laurent and Makoto were on money duty, probably because the idiotic blond asshole couldn’t resist the opportunity to hold wads of cash on his person. If he could, Laurent would use hundred dollar bills as hand-held fans. 

Makoto and Laurent walked shoulder to shoulder, alone together now because Cynthia and Abby had separated to cover more ground and to search Chigurh’s computer. In short, Edamura had no idea where they were and was relying entirely on the man who had actually walked through the halls they were in many times before. One would think Laurent would give him a brief rundown of the layout of the penthouse and the rooms in it beforehand, or maybe even a map to study the day before they went in for their final walkthrough, but no! He was thrust into that building and forced to follow around a man who walked through those halls as if he belonged there. All he could think about was how much of an idiot the French man was. In fact, he thought about how idiotic it was that he even needed to be there in the first place - Team Confidence had already taken a few million dollars from the actress in small increments for their “charity”, so why did they need to take more? Ah, yes, because everyone in that team was greedy, Makoto included. At least they could all admit it, but at least Edamura didn’t constantly risk his life for money. Only when Laurent asked would he do that - and after a bunch of begging… or manipulation, he couldn’t tell.

The two men walked down the halls of the large building in silence other than their footsteps and quiet breathing, Makoto acting too much like a quiet, angsty teenager that had been dragged along on a grocery trip to make any upset or sarcastic remarks while they traveled. How did Laurent even know where the money was kept? Something in the back of Edamura’s mind told him the blond asshole he often found himself crawling back to just knew everything the world had to offer, that he had planned out everything before this moment and this was what he was planning the whole time. Another part of his mind was telling him Laurent was just winging the entire thing… he was betting on the latter. While Thierry claimed to be a conning connoisseur, he was anything but that. 

The confident look on the blond asshole’s face was evident enough for him not to have a plan, clearly he had thought at least a little bit ahead for his latest con. If not something thoroughly thought out, surely he at least had something to fall back on if anything were to go wrong, which they hopefully wouldn’t need to use. How hard was it to get some money and hide it in your pockets?

He began being led to a specific door at the end of a hallway by the taller man, and he immediately assumed that was where most, if not all the money was being kept. Laurent had opened the door ahead of him and muttered a quiet “Ladies first” just to piss Makoto off, which it did, and he only rolled his eyes and shook his head at the comment as he walked into the room. He sure wasn’t a lady, but he would take the offer. He wasn’t an idiot. The room looked bland and empty. It wasn’t much larger or smaller than any of the other rooms in the penthouse, but there was less than half the amount of furniture that was in all of the other rooms, making it seem bigger than it really was. Ms. Chigurh must have given up on her interior decorating dreams when it came to this room, or maybe she just didn’t know she had it until last minute, but either way it was very obvious that not many people ever stepped foot inside it. While Makoto was thinking, Laurent walked into the room and shut the door behind himself, then walked to the wall opposite from where they had just entered and began feeling around it. _What the hell could he be doing? _Makoto thought, but he chose not to question it too much. Maybe the room was so bland because Chigurh was hiding something?__

__Laurent continued to feel along the wall, hands flat against the wallpaper, for a while longer before he finally stopped at a spot about one fourth of the way across the flat surface. When he pressed two fingers against the wall paper, it began to ripple, and eventually it ripped so that there was a small hole where his fingers were._ _

__“Laurent?” Makoto started, but was shushed by the other man as he continued to rip the wallpaper by dragging his fingers along it in a square shape. All Makoto did was roll his eyes once again and cross his arms, digging his toe into the ground as he muttered curses at the other man for being so foolish and destroying Chigurh’s property. If what they were already doing wasn’t going to get them caught, that was. After thirty seconds or so of silently ripping wallpaper, Makoto decided to speak up once again. “Laurent, what are you doing? We’re supposed to be finding money, what’s the point in this?”_ _

__“We are finding money, Edamame,” Laurent replied sweetly, pulling the wallpaper off of the wall and revealing a small black box. Edamura only thought _Oh, that must be where the money is. Or maybe something she might want to sell? Or what if that is the blackmail? _All he could think after that train of thought was how the French man’s idiotic way of thinking had rubbed off on him.___ _

____“So what, is that the money?” he asked quietly, walking toward the opened hole in the wall and having to step on his tiptoes to see what was inside from behind Laurent’s shoulder._ _ _ _

____“Not quite. More like a misplaced heirloom, we’ll get the money in a moment.”_ _ _ _

____Of course, Makoto wasn’t surprised. There was always some underlying and personal motivation behind the cons Laurent Thierry planned, and although they more often than not got in the way of what they actually came there for, he didn’t pry too much. He just nodded and stepped back from the other, taking the few seconds of silence he had to check the door and ensure no one had walked in on them._ _ _ _

____“How are we going to cover this hole?”_ _ _ _

____“Bryana doesn’t come into this room often, we can hide it behind the bookcase in here and she would be none the wiser until we’re long gone.”_ _ _ _

_____Makes total sense, _Makoto thought as he looked at the bookshelf pressed against the other wall, then back at the door, and finally back at Laurent. “Okay,” he started, letting out a long sigh. “Can we hurry?” He began bouncing on his heels anxiously as he awaited an answer, still feeling the nerves he felt on his very first con. “Someone might walk in, and how will we explain this?”__ _ _ _ _

______Laurent continued to stare at the heirloom as Edamura spoke, only tearing his eyes away from it when he heard the urgency in the other’s voice, and felt someone yanking at the sleeve of his blazer. As he put the precious item in one of his many pockets, he said, “Alright, since you’re so adamant on going, you help me out.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Makoto did end up helping. They both helped to move the bookcase, Makoto shushing the other whenever the wood scraped against the floor a little too loud. He didn’t care if the sound was out of Laurent’s control, he was still the one who tore the wallpaper so much, and Edamura was still paranoid. However, shushing did not help._ _ _ _ _ _

______Laurent was on one side of the bookshelf and pulling it along, while Makoto was on the other side of the bookshelf and pushing it. There was much complaining on both ends, but eventually they got the heavy object in place and the hole in the wall was entirely covered. Edamura, to be frank, was shocked by how well everything fit together. Once it was perfectly in place, both men stepped away from it and let out long sighs of exhaustion, Makoto leaning forward with his hands on his knees, and Laurent leaning against a wall._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You couldn’t have made a smaller hole in the wall?” the brunet asked, bitterness familiarly lacing his voice as he spoke. All he got in response was a head shake as the other man checked on the heirloom in his pocket, which only made him wonder more what the significance of it was. From the angle he was at, the heirloom was hidden by the box it was kept in, though judging by its small size it must have been a ring, or maybe a necklace. Maybe it was a family ring, or a family friend’s ring?_ _ _ _ _ _

______The confusion must have been showing on his face, because Makoto heard the blond snicker as he began to make his way to the door._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Come along, Edamame!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______His blood was _boiling _.___ _ _ _ _ _

________And although he, if he was being honest, wanted to punch Laurent just like he had done only once before, he did not. He showed restraint. All he did was clench his fists, stomp his foot, and follow the other man out the door. Then started the real search for money. Surely rich people had money hidden sparingly around their homes, that seemed like common sense, so they may have been able to just walk into any room and find what they were looking for. Though, Makoto still didn’t know how to seem not suspicious in front of security cameras or any stranger who may be passing by in the home. For what seemed like forever, the two walked along well-decorated halls in complete silence. The contrast between the singular room they had just been in and the rest of the penthouse was shocking and obvious; the safe room was bare just a bookshelf, two chairs, and a table, while the rest of the home had paintings on the walls, rugs, plants, seats just about everywhere, and a very warm atmosphere. It felt like they were in a completely different building._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Eventually, Makoto heard someone clear their throat and turned toward the noise, only to see Laurent facing toward him and nodding his head toward yet another door he had opened for him. Inside, it seemed like any old room, but when he walked in he realized the obvious: this was definitely where the majority of the money was kept. It wasn’t obvious at first glance, but why else would Laurent show him the room? It was average, too average, and it was very well furnished. Edamura only assumed if he turned one of the cushions over so that the couch was bare, he would find multiple wads of hundred dollar bills underneath them, or perhaps even in them. Once again, Laurent shut the door behind himself and walked inside the room some more until he was standing beside Makoto. Immediately, Makoto began to feel nervous._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Do we really need to do this?” he asked quietly, pulling at his own fingers as a weak attempt to calm his nerves. “I mean, didn’t she already pay you loads of money for that ‘actor’s guild’ or whatever?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“She did, but it would be a waste if we didn’t try to get as much money as we could. Wasted opportunity.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s… I dunno, it’s risky.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Laurent sighed and looked down at Edamura entirely. “Think about it this way, Edamame,” he pulled a couch cushion off of its seat and flipped it upside down, where a small rectangular shape was pressing up against the fabric, “if we take more of her money, she has less ways to pay off her peers and to afford good lawyers, thus, she will be more likely to go to jail. She won’t even have this money to fall back on.” As he spoke, he motioned Makoto’s attention to the item underneath the fabric of the cushion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Makoto couldn’t argue with that. It made enough sense for him to feel a little less uneasy about the entire situation than he had felt before, and he knew he would have felt awful if he didn’t do as he was told, as he would think back and know there was more he could do to prevent Ms. Chigurh from continuing on with her wicked ways. Reluctantly, he took the couch cushion from Laurent’s hands and furrowed his brows. “Okay, how are we going to get the money out?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Laurent pointed vaguely toward the side of the cushion that was closer to Edamura, then picked up yet another cushion and unzipped it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________Really? _he thought, _It’s that easy? _He unzipped the cushion and stuck his hand in, then grabbed the rectangular shape inside of it and pulled it out. Sure enough, it was a real wad of one hundred dollar bills. He flipped briefly through the wad, put the money in an inside pocket of his coat, and then zipped the cushion closed and set it back in place. Knowing they wouldn’t be destroying any more property definitely settled his nerves a bit, but he was still worried they were going to get caught in the act of stealing.____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The process was repeated for the rest of the cushions until, as far as both Makoto and Laurent were aware, they were all empty. They had even been double and triple checked, which was very time consuming._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Can we go now?” Makoto asked, his nerves coming back with each second that passed of them in the room. He was holding a few thousand dollars on his person, as was Laurent, and although it was hidden away in many pockets he still had the jitters and wanted to leave as soon as possible._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Laurent only sighed in response, nodded solemnly, and whined quietly as he looked around the room one last time. It seemed like he was more upset that they couldn’t stay in such a lavish house more than anything. Makoto felt something similar, but as nice as it would be to live in a mansion, he would feel more at ease if he was in his own home. Or really, if he was in any home other than that of a criminal they were burgling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Maybe one day after he finally quit conning and lived an honest life with an honest job, he would save up a bunch of money, buy a large house, and live comfortably for the rest of his life. Yeah, that sounded great._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Eventually, they left the room and once again walked in silence, making no attempt to act like they were close or even best friends, until a strange, large man in black walked up beside them and cleared his throat to catch their attention. Immediately, the two stopped in their tracks, and Laurent turned to face the man. Makoto, on the other hand, was still facing the opposite direction, rather reluctant to face his fate. _This is it, we’re done for, _he thought, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as his mind raced. Eventually, after taking a few well needed deep breaths, he turned around and looked up at the man, who was very obviously there strictly for security reasons; the man was large and seemed strong, he was very tall, and could definitely snap Edamura in half as if he were a toothpick. In fact, he was sure the man in black would give him nightmares that night. That was, if he even made it out of that damned penthouse in one piece.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Hello!” Laurent chirped in that familiar all too happy voice of his. “How are you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The man did not answer his question. Instead, he nodded to the two and crossed his arms just to show off how intimidating he could be. “What are you two doing here? Who let you in?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Luckily for them both, acting innocent and charming others was Laurent’s area of expertise, and Makoto felt like he could finally breathe as the French man took the wheel and led them away from any suspicion. “Well, sir, Bryana and I are work buddies, and she let me bring a friend over to practice improvisation with some of her old scripts!” he explained, grabbing Edamura’s shoulder as he spoke and giving it a good squeeze to sell the image of them being the bestest of friends._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________Improvisation? _Makoto thought, not letting his true feelings show and keeping a smile on his face as he thought about a way to continue the conversation if needed. _That must be some sick joke. _Even though he wanted to be 50 meters away from Laurent and never see that stupid face again, he leaned in a bit closer to him and gave the big, scary man a polite smile to show that he truly meant no harm. They were simply two friends who were trying to become better actors and hopefully get on the big screen one day.____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Improv, huh?” the man asked, clearly not buying it. It seemed like Chigurh trained her security guards to be bullshit detectors as well._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Yes, improv.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The man stared at the two for a moment longer in the same position as he was before, his face contorted in such a way that he seemed like some sort of devil. Well, it could have just been Edamura’s mind tricking him. Either way, it was obvious that he didn’t believe the two. After a moment or two of staring to see if either of them would crack under pressure, he let out a long sigh and uncrossed his arms. “Well, if you two are really just here to do some improv, d’you mind if I ask you to empty out all of your pockets for me?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Although both Makoto and Laurent had only forced smiles on their faces, the atmosphere in the room grew tense enough to tell the security guard that he had caught the two. “Or would you like me to pat you two down instead?” he asked, reaching out his hands to grab them, only to miss them by a hair when Laurent grabbed Makoto’s arm and started sprinting in the opposite direction. Although Edamura had nearly tripped over his own feet and ate the dirt off the ground, he caught himself and started running after him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“What the hell, man?” he asked quickly, occasionally glancing back to see the distance between them and the guard, who was running after them by then. When he saw how intense the situation was, he let out a noise of pure fear. It sounded like an animal getting its foot stepped on. If they weren’t running from danger, Laurent would have laughed. When he looked forward once again, he only saw the blond’s back and the elevator ahead of them at the end of the hallway. He supposed if they got in there fast enough, they could go to the bottom floor and run out from the front entrance. They’d need to call a getaway vehicle though… Edamura wished he’d denied the offer to do another con. They ran in silence for a few more seconds, and when Makoto heard nothing from Laurent, not even some type of reassurance that usually didn’t even make him feel better, he spoke again. “Laurent, what are we doing?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Laurent stopped in front of the elevator and slammed on the button beside it urgently, pressing it more before it even had the chance to open. Although there was urgency in his actions, his expression seemed calm. Every once in a while, while he waited for the elevator door to open, he would glance back at the security guard to see how far he was, and turned back every time he saw him get closer. Once the door had opened, Makoto was pushed inside with a quick and unexpectedly harsh “get in” told to him, before the blond bastard who got him into the dangerous situation walked in behind him, pressing the top floor button as soon as he could. The door hadn’t closed yet, and they could both see the guard coming closer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Laurent,” he said quietly, his voice higher than normal and his breathing heavy. “He’s gonna catch up!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“I know.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Finally the doors began to close, more and more, and just before they closed the guard stuck his foot in between them to keep them open enough for him to pry them. Makoto stepped back and pressed his back against the elevator wall, while Laurent stepped forward and kicked the larger man’s foot out. When the doors finally closed, all the two heard was a _thud _from the other side, then silence as they began getting transported upwards.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________At last, they stood alone. All Edamura could hear was his heart pounding in his chest and the sound of both of their labored breathing together, but it was better than hearing the footsteps of a man who wanted to catch them and throw them in jail. In that moment, he began wondering if Abby and Cynthia were okay…_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Once Laurent had caught his breath, he turned to face Makoto and let out a content sigh. “That was cutting it close, wasn’t it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________All Makoto could do was nod and ask, “Why are we going up? Is there a fire exit on the roof?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________The French man shook his head and leaned against the wall opposite to the one Makoto was still pressed tightly against. “No, there isn’t, but they have probably got all of the exits on the bottom floor blocked off, as well as most fire exits on the other floors blocked off. Going up is our safest option.” As he spoke, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through it, eventually clicking on a specific contact and calling someone who could help them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Then how are we gonna get away?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Laurent just shook his head and gave Makoto side eyes. _Alright then, fine, don’t tell me. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Edamura wasn’t interested in the conversation anyway, especially if it was going to only be bad news, so he crossed his arms and tapped his heel against the floor repeatedly while he waited for their inevitable doom._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Laurent spoke quietly the entire elevator ride up. All that was able to be heard was him explaining the situation, telling someone where they were going, and asking if they were out. _Cynthia? Abby? _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The brunet pondered a bit more on what Cynthia, or Abby, or whoever was on the other end of the phone call could do to help them given what minimal escape plans they had, but was interrupted by the feeling of the elevator coming to a stop, and the feeling of a draft as the doors opened._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“We’re there. Hurry, please,” Laurent muttered in an annoyed tone, which was very odd considering the scenario, before he hung up his phone and pocketed it. He then motioned for Makoto to exit the elevator first._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________While Makoto often told himself he would be spiteful and not listen to anything the pompous bastard he had to deal with told him to do, he found that his body wasn’t listening to his mind in that moment, and he found himself walking out of the elevator and into a small hallway with only one flight of stairs. Once again, the two men found themselves walking side by side up the staircase, then out a door and onto the roof of the penthouse building. It was windy and the air was cold, which cooled Edamura down but did not help him calm down in any way whatsoever. If anyone focused hard enough, they’d be able to see how much his clenched fists were shaking despite how much he wanted to seem relaxed and unworried. The only person who could see his nervousness was Laurent; they were alone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Shit,” he muttered, glancing around the roof briefly for any sign of rescue. His stomach was already churning as he caught the sight of a building far smaller, showing just how high up they were. With his phobia acting up and his mind racing anxiously with thoughts about what would happen if they stayed in that one spot for too long, he was sure he was going to throw up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Don’t act so sour, Edamame,” Laurent said in a casual tone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Edamame” was more than sour. His blood was boiling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Sour?” he asked, his voice raising just as high as his blood pressure. “You don’t want me to act ‘sour’? We’re being chased down by a man who could fucking kill us, worst scenario! Best scenario, we get thrown in jail, which is still bad! All this, and you don’t want me to act ‘sour’?” With every sentence his voice got louder, and with every breath he took he stepped closer to that stupid, selfish, self-centered asshole, pointing and waving a finger in his face while his other hand was clenched into a fist so tight his nails were digging into his palm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Laurent calmly held his hands up as if he were surrendering in classic French man fashion and began telling Makoto to calm down, only to be interrupted by the sound of a heavy door, the one they had just walked through, opening. When they each looked at the source of the noise, they were met not only with the man who had been chasing them, but also two more men. They must have been there in case anyone needed to be held down._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Immediately, Makoto felt his throat beginning to close. Not only did he feel like a trapped animal, but he could finally feel the tension coming off of Laurent. Surely he should have been used to it by then, but he wasn’t. He was terrified when Laurent showed even the tiniest bit of fear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Hello… Hello, men,” Laurent stammered out, hands still up from when he was surrendering to Makoto, but he was then surrendering to the security guards. “How do you do?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Instead of answering the question, one of the men walked toward the two rather quickly, stomping his feet with each step he took. “Don’t even think about pulling any of that shit,” he spat. The closer he got to the two con men, the faster they scattered away from him and toward the edge of the roof._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“What ever could you mean? I’m just trying to make some casual conversation!” the blond replied innocently, lowering his hands down to his sides and ready to use as a way to keep him balanced if he got even one step closer to the edge._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Faintly, in the distance, Makoto could hear the blades of a helicopter getting louder and louder. _Are we going to be saved? _With his luck, they most likely weren’t going to be. They’d have to think of their own way to get out before they get arrested, or worse, killed.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Why was he always thinking they were going to die?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Laurent began to take slow steps backwards, closer to the edge of the building, and Makoto followed. Usually he wouldn’t do something so foolish, which was a phrase he’d been telling himself a lot that day, but his skin crawled when he was near the security guards. He would do anything to get away from them. The two gave each other cautious glances, then the blond took a peak over the edge and let out a quiet sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“I’m sorry boys, but if you aren’t willing to have a calm conversation, me and my friend here are going to have to leave.” Laurent motioned nonchalantly with his hand for Makoto to get closer. Although it was against every nerve in his body, he stepped on the very edge of the building beside the taller man. He watched as the three men in front of them continued to step forward and corner them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Laurent,” Makoto whispered anxiously, glancing up at him with wide eyes. “Got any bright ideas?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________All he got was shushed and a hand on his back. If that was meant to be comforting, it was, oddly enough._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Turn around!” one of the men said, and so the more experienced con man did nothing but nod to his subordinate to do as he was told._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________So he did._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________As he was turning around the hand on his back was removed, but the second he set his foot down and stared down at the vastness of space and the scatter of tiny buildings beneath him, which made his stomach lurch enough, it was back on his back and he was being shoved forward. Out of sheer instinct he grabbed for the nearest thing that could have kept him stable, but Laurent stepped away and watched Makoto fall. The last thing he heard was the sound of himself screaming louder than he ever had before._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________The next thing Makoto remembered was hearing helicopter blades once again and opening his eyes to see a black ceiling. For a moment he thought he was in a tiny room, but when he inspected the area further he realized he was laying behind two chairs, and somewhere that wasn’t steady. He began feeling his body heat up and his breathing getting clear, a telltale sign of his weak stomach acting up. When he closed his eyes as an attempt to make himself feel better, it only made it more apparent that he was somewhere mid air. Luckily, he wasn’t outside. Or on the ground dead after falling from a tall building._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Tall building… Tall building! He fell - no, he was pushed - off of a tall building! How was he not dead?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Immediately, when the thought came to his mind, he sat himself up and further looked around the small area he was in. All of what he could see then was familiar red hair and the familiar gloved hands of a pilot he knew all too well. And trusted far too little. When he looked around the back, where he was, he found a familiar blond bastard sat hunched over with one knee up and an elbow rested on it. More than ever, he seemed tired._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________The brief worry he felt for that man was easily replaced with blinding anger as he remembered just how he had been betrayed by him most recently. He pushed himself onto his knees and made enough movement for everyone in the small helicopter to see him out of the corner of their eyes, causing Laurent to look up and lock eyes with the Japanese man._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Dude,” he started, already feeling his blood boil and his heart begin to race, “what the hell were you thinking?” Laurent continued to stare at him with a blank look on his face until he remembered why the other was so upset. When he did remember, he began to smile. “We didn’t even know where the helicopter was or if it was even for us! It could have been more people coming to arrest us! I could have died!” As he continued listing off all the ways everything could have gone wrong, he yelled louder and louder and grabbed the collar of the French man’s shirt, then began shaking it vigorously. “D’you get that? I could have died! We both could have died, those guys back there probably had guns and they could have shot us down if we tried anything, and you let us get cornered! What were you thinking? We could have-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Just as Makoto was about to continue on his long rant about how they both could have died painful deaths, Laurent placed a hand over one of his and began calmly prying his fingers off of the fabric of his shirt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“But we didn’t die,” he said simply, the smile on his face never wavering, and his confident way of speaking never faltering. “Why don’t we just focus on that for now, hm?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Makoto sat on his knees in front of Laurent dumbfounded. Whether it was because his hands were being pried away from the other man’s shirt while he was still wrinkling it out of pettiness, or because Laurent had easily brushed off both of their near death experiences, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that his brain was sputtering and smoke was coming out of his ears._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________If the helicopter wasn’t so loud, he would have been able to hear Cynthia’s snicker as she watched the two out of the corner of her eye, unsure of what they were saying but was aware that it was a conversation they had had before, and one they would definitely have again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“You’re an idiot,” Edamura said finally, pulling his hands away from the other’s and crossing his arms. “This is the exact reason I’m quitting this stupid team.” He glared off into space rather than looking at the man sat directly in front of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________The lack of eye contact was a telltale sign of him blatantly lying._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Laurent, on the other hand, felt entirely different than how Edamura might have believed he felt. Despite how cool, calm, and collected he sounded and looked like on the outside, his heart was pounding in his chest and he had just gotten done with mulling over the consequences of his actions, as Edamame saw when he was sitting, staring at the floor. What could have happened if anything went slightly wrong on the roof - there were just some things that couldn’t be improvised - what he would have done if there were more blood on his hands._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________But like he said to Edamura, nothing bad had happened so they just had to focus on the good things, right? After all, the little damage that was done by his quick thinking could have been easily fixed with some long, drawn out apologies and Makoto’s cut of what they had received from the con. It wasn’t the first or the last time that angry boy would claim he was going to quit Team Confidence and live an “honest life, for real this time.” Laurent Thierry was a terrible influence, and he intended to wear that title with pride._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
